"HELP!!!" Nyx screamed.
Her voice broke against the tiled walls, scraping her throat as hands shoved her forward. Her knees slammed into the toilet bowl, the edge biting into her skin through the thin white fabric.
The putrid smell of urine filled her nostrils.
"Someone help—! Stop! Please— don't—!"
Her head was forced down by a pair of manicured fingers tangled in her hair, yanking hard enough to make her scalp burn.
A girl laughed behind her.
"Gosh, listen to her," the girl said. "So fucking dramatic! No one's gonna hear you, Hwageun!"
Another voice chimed in behind the first girl. "If you'd just do what we asked, this wouldn't be happening." She sounded almost bored.
Nyx shook her head frantically. Her hands scrabbled against the porcelain toilet. "I can't— I told you, I can't get them. Ae-rin, I really can't."
The grip on her hair tightened.
"Oh, come on, Hwageun, " Ae-rin dragged Nyx up with her hair. "Your dad's rich. Everyone knows that. So ask Daddy again for the ticket."
"I'm not!" Nyx cried. Her eyes burned, tears blurring the filthy tiles. "The Citadel Zone doesn't work like that. I can't give you the tickets! C-connections don't matter. Even I don't have one."
That earned her a scoff.
"Liar."
"I swear—!"
A hand struck the back of her head, forcing her face closer to the toilet water. The smell flooded her nose. Nyx gagged.
Ae-rin leaned down until Nyx could feel her breath. "Ugh. You rich kids are all the same. Let's try a different approach."
Nyx froze.
"Maybe we start with your little friend instead," Ae-rin continued casually. "Eris, right?"
Nyx stuttered. "Don't. Please. Don't touch her."
The girls laughed again.
"She lives here, doesn't she?" another said while applying a pink sticker bandage on her cheek. Her slant green eyes scanned Nyx's wet face. "The foul mouthed trash you call a 'friend'. Of all the troubles you caused, that rat glued to you like a dirty trap."
She took a step closer, shoving Ae-rin off Nyx. She looked a bit older than all of them.
Nyx flinched back. "Hel, please… I really can't—"
Hel crouched down and calmly pinched Nyx's nose, however, that single action made Nyx's skin crawl and grow goosebumps.
"Such a pretty face you have. I wouldn't want it rotting. Unlike your loudmouthed friend, your nose is more pointed upward." Her voice was as soft as a feather.
"People disappear all the time in this motel. I wouldn't want your friend's ashes to be found in the pile, would I?"
Nyx thrashed, panic ripping through her chest. "No—! I can't get the tickets, but don't hurt her, please—!"
The hand in her hair shoved her down.
Her face plunged into the toilet.
The cold liquid soaked her cheeks, rushed into her mouth. She screamed, but it came out muffled, bubbling. Her lungs burned. Her fingers clawed uselessly at the bowl.
She was yanked back up, choking, sobbing violently.
Laughter filled the room.
"Disgusting."
She screamed again, the sound tearing out of her chest.
"Stop— please— I'll— I'll try—!"
"You already said you can't," Hel replied lightly, pressing harder for a second before pulling away. "So unless you play a Game, and win a worthy prize to pawn off and buy the ticket, your friend disappears."
Nyx sobbed, her body folding in on itself.
Outside the stall, the bathroom door creaked.
Eris stood there, hand wrapped tightly around the doorknob. Her face was pale, jaw clenched so hard it trembled.
She had heard everything.
Her fingers dug into the metal.
Then she let go.
The door closed softly behind her as she turned away, ignoring the screams and sobs of her friend.
***
The wheel slowed again, metal creaking, as their cabin rattled.
[All Questions Must Be Answered Under 1 Minute.]
Eris' fingers trembled on her lap, dug into her own knuckles, then finally balled tight.
She swallowed, throat stiff. The words piling in there, refusing to move or utter a word.
When she forced herself to look up, Nyx was already staring at her.
Nyx flinched, turning her tear-stained face away sharply. Her lashes trembled.
She blinked once, dragging the back of her hand across the corner of her eyes to wipe her tears clean.
Olive's voice cut through the silence. "Eris."
Eris turned to him.
"Answer the question," Olive deadpanned. "If you lie, we die. If you don't answer, we also die. We're at the bottom. You can talk things out when we survive. Our lives are on the line here."
Nyx sucked in a shaky breath.
Eris pressed her lips together, then bit down on the bottom one until the faint metallic taste crept into her mouth.
She couldn't look at Nyx. So she lowered her head instead.
"Yes," Eris whispered.
Her shoulders drew inward, cowering to her seat as her voice cracked even though she tried to steady it. "I… I held the door. But that was because I thought—"
Nyx's fingernails dug into her own arm.
She forced herself to look at Eris again.
"So what?" Nyx lips quivered. "What did you think? That my 'bad luck' would wash over you too if you stepped in?" She swallowed, then the question she had been holding in finally spilled out.
"You started being my friend because of the Citadel tickets too… didn't you?"
"N-no! That's not true! I-i—"
Ding!
[Correctl!]
[Number of lies: 0]
[Time remaining: 40 seconds!]
Nyx turned her face away.
Olive coughed as loud as he could.
He ran a hand down his blue hair, sighing as he opened his own system, indicating the question right to the person opposite him.
But then, his eyes lowered slightly, brows furrowed at Fèi Míng.
"My question is directed to 'Fateless'. That's you, right? And it says: 'how many death expressions have you enjoyed? Excluding Lin's?' I don't know who that is… just answer."
'Actually, I'm very curious what these 'death expressions' meant. Is he a freak?'
Although it was subtle, Fèi Míng flinched. He then looked up at the cabin ceiling, a small grin spreading across his face. It caught Olive off-guard. 'What the actual hell is this? Is he… smiling? What's so funny about the question?'
Olive recoiled in disgust. 'I really shouldn't be surprised. I saw him smiling when the 'Town crier' role got stabbed to death. Now his eyes are twinkling?... Is he… mad?'
However, Fèi Míng let out a long exhale. His lips twitching to maintain his blank expression. But who could have thought? One of those fuckers up there actually knew about RiaKai, and Lin.
'I never knew I should count them. Ah, this Force knew exactly where to push. Fascinating.'
"16," Fèi Míng replied. 'After being overlooked for a long time, they're finally gathering information about me? This is stupid.'
[Correct!]
[Time remaining: 23 seconds!]
Only two questions answered so far. The man in the white suit finally spoke up, suggesting to fasten things before the time runs out, instead of one question at a time. Two to three could be thrown at once. It could be a bit disorienting, but it saves time.
From what the man said, Fèi Míng learned that his name was Light.
Eris had a question for Light, and Light had one for Olive.
When the three were left reading their questions, Fèi Míng was left with Nyx.
Then, he glanced at her. "What's the meaning of Hwageun?"
Nyx's face drained of colour when she heard that name. Her voice slowly trembled out of her lips. "H-hwageun?"
"Isn't that how it's pronounced? That's my question to you."
She lowered her eyes. "No, no. You got the pronunciation right. Just… It means… root of disaster. Like a brazen nickname to call someone when bad things happen around them all the time."
"You were called Hwageun because of your bad luck? Was that the fight between you and your friend?"
Nyx shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Her nails biting into her skin to the point a small trickle of blood dripped to the floor.
Fèi Míng noticed it but never said a thing.
"Who gave you that nickname? Surely it can't be Eris. Then it's…" His slant eyes traced Nyx's bruising arm. "Your birth mother?"
Her eyes shot to him in a flare of anger. She abruptly stood from where she sat, banging her feet against the floorboard. The cabin shook against her weight, tilting sideways.
The sudden shift of weight earned her a few glares. They were already five in a cabin, carrying more weight than the rest, and someone causing rapid movement could put them in a lot of disadvantage.
However… Nyx had an expression neither anyone nor Eris had seen before.
Her fists were clenched tight, brows furrowed and her face scrunched up as she glared at Fèi Míng.
'Oh. She's angry.'
"That… wasn't the question asked, was it?" Nyx asked.
Fèi Míng ignored her nevertheless. "Are you angry?"
"Of course, I am. You asked a very personal question. One that wasn't even asked by the system."
"Good," he said.
Just as Nyx and the rest were quite confused on what just transpired, a faint chime of the system echoed as the Runic board flashed open before their eyes.
Ding!
[Correct! Correct! Correct!]
[Number of lies: 0.]
[Time's up! The first round of the mini game is complete.]
[Cabins with the maximum number of lies will be eliminated!]